And, if you are checking that you have the 2.3, then "Properties > Details" on the .dll files identifies 2.3 files as "Version 2.3".

F.

[edit]Ah... not what you were looking for :-( [/edit]

Fred....you know what I am asking......

Just verifying that the correct files are resident 'somewhere' does not verify that they are in the correct place and being used by Boinc.

@Mark,

I think you are right - there is no way of telling that does no involve trashing the CUDA cache (i.e. you could rename all the CUDA files that you THINK you are using - to prevent them being deleted - and see if the CUDA cache gets trashed).

And, if you are checking that you have the 2.3, then "Properties > Details" on the .dll files identifies 2.3 files as "Version 2.3".

F.

[edit]Ah... not what you were looking for :-( [/edit]

Fred....you know what I am asking......

Just verifying that the correct files are resident 'somewhere' does not verify that they are in the correct place and being used by Boinc.

@Mark,

I think you are right - there is no way of telling that does no involve trashing the CUDA cache (i.e. you could rename all the CUDA files that you THINK you are using - to prevent them being deleted - and see if the CUDA cache gets trashed).

F.

LOL....I don't like 'destructive testing'....
But actually, I don't think changing the dll's can lead to any WU trashing.....you are not changing the app or it's name.....just the dll's it is using.

I think this is quite transparent to Boinc.

I just don't see any way to verify that a user has got the correct dll's working.....
He may have them downloaded and installed, but if he has them in the wrong folder, for example, he may not be using them at all.

And this is a real possibility, given the changes between OS's as to where they store the critical info......

A user might be accessing some old files or folders, and think they are installing the dll's in the correct place, and alas, they are not being used.
____________
*********************************************
Behold the power of kitty!!

And, if you are checking that you have the 2.3, then "Properties > Details" on the .dll files identifies 2.3 files as "Version 2.3".

F.

[edit]Ah... not what you were looking for :-( [/edit]

Fred....you know what I am asking......

Just verifying that the correct files are resident 'somewhere' does not verify that they are in the correct place and being used by Boinc.

@Mark,

I think you are right - there is no way of telling that does no involve trashing the CUDA cache (i.e. you could rename all the CUDA files that you THINK you are using - to prevent them being deleted - and see if the CUDA cache gets trashed).

F.

LOL....I don't like 'destructive testing'....
But actually, I don't thing changing the dll's can lead to any WU trashing.....you are not changing the app or it's name.....just the dll's it is using.

I think this is quite transparent to Boinc.

Well, if you rename things so that there is no usable DLL at all - that would count as destructive testing!

But I agree with the consensus - once you've found the correct working directory, you can tell which version you have from the file sizes and (from v2.2 onwards) the tooltip popups. But if you don't know your way round the directory structure, there's no way of telling which DLL set is running, or was historically used for a task you've already reported. Only the 'before and after' run time comparison would reveal that.

Edit - the 'correct working directory' will be the one which has WU data files in - and if the question is about CUDA, some at least will be very recent. Teach people to keep their folders in 'detail' view, and how to sort them into 'date modified' order. If you let the newest files float to the top, you'll soon see whether the folder is active or not.

But actually, I don't think changing the dll's can lead to any WU trashing.....you are not changing the app or it's name.....just the dll's it is using.

I think this is quite transparent to Boinc.

I just don't see any way to verify that a user has got the correct dll's working.....
He may have them downloaded and installed, but if he has them in the wrong folder, for example, he may not be using them at all.

And this is a real possibility, given the changes between OS's as to where they store the critical info......

A user might be accessing some old files or folders, and think they are installing the dll's in the correct place, and alas, they are not being used.

If the files that are named in the app_info.xml do not exist in the required folder then Boinc will decide that it cannot do CUDA and trash any that exist in the cache (I believe - but will not be upset if corrected).

I get round this probem by knowing that I have only one each of cudart.dll and cufft.dll on my system (from a full system "Search" for the file names). All other instances I have renamed e.g. cudart-V2.2.dll / cufft-V2.2.dll. That way, if CUDA works, I know that I am using the correct .dll's.

I just got asked the question, and I can't remember the answer, or if there is one...

Is it possible to verify the Cuda dll version that you are currently running?

Using Process Explorer from www.sysinternals.com you can see what dll's are being used by different programs. You need to set the GPU processing always active so that you can select the running exe without the program exiting. Or at least you have to very quick. Maybe you can make the Process Explorer to write things to a log file, I haven't studied it so thorouhly.
____________

I just got asked the question, and I can't remember the answer, or if there is one...

Is it possible to verify the Cuda dll version that you are currently running?

Using Process Explorer from www.sysinternals.com you can see what dll's are being used by different programs. You need to set the GPU processing always active so that you can select the running exe without the program exiting. Or at least you have to very quick. Maybe you can make the Process Explorer to write things to a log file, I haven't studied it so thorouhly.

I won't even try to come up with prices, but the thing to note is that the 'entry-level' 2xx series cards are very slow by comparison to the 9800 and 8800 processors.

If power consumption is a priority, the GT240 is probably a good bet -- better performance than a 9600 GT at 2/3 the power consumption. Note that the 210 in particular is a VERY slow GPU -- it's 1/5th the speed of the 240, and the 240 isn't very fast by today's standards. The crappy graphics chip built into the motherboard might be faster than a 210 (but probably won't be able to run CUDA.)

All that being said, however, it's usually not that hard, nor expensive, to put a new power supply into a pre-built computer. That might be a better option than buying a very low power -- and slow -- GPU that could work with the existing power supply. You just need to do your homework and make sure the power supply you buy has all the right connectors for your motherboard and has the sufficient power for you entire system, including GPU(s).
____________

I just got asked the question, and I can't remember the answer, or if there is one...

Is it possible to verify the Cuda dll version that you are currently running?

Process Explorer is awesome and fascinating too.

Another way to find out is to go to your
C:\ProgramData\BOINC\slots\ (default on my Vista install)
If you have a GPU work unit in progress some info will be in one of the slots (0,1,2,...) You should be able to see what looks like cudart.dll and cufft.dll (but they are only a few bytes in size) Open one with notepad;
<soft_link>../../projects/setiathome.berkeley.edu/cufft.dll</soft_link>
That would be C:\ProgramData\BOINC\projects\setiathome.berkeley.edu (on my computer)
And now you know the path to the files that are being used. (you can follow the path and verify the version of dll)
____________

I just got asked the question, and I can't remember the answer, or if there is one...

Is it possible to verify the Cuda dll version that you are currently running?

Process Explorer is awesome and fascinating too. Another way to find out is to go to your
C:\ProgramData\BOINC\slots\ (default on my Vista install)
If you have a GPU work unit in progress some info will be in one of the slots (0,1,2,...) You should be able to see what looks like cudart.dll and cufft.dll (but they are only a few bytes in size) Open one with notepad;
<soft_link>../../projects/setiathome.berkeley.edu/cufft.dll</soft_link>
That would be C:\ProgramData\BOINC\projects\setiathome.berkeley.edu (on my computer)
And now you know the path to the files that are being used. (you can follow the path and verify the version of dll)

The trouble arises if your BOINC data directory is hidden, or you don't know where it is, or you have multiple copies on your system and don't know which one is active.

If you can find your active slots directory, then you've found the active projects directory already (they're in the same BOINC folder), and you've no longer got the problem.

And the easiest way of all is to read the name of the data directory in use from the second line in the messages tab as BOINC starts up!